Into the Fray
by pinkminx
Summary: In the summer of 2002, Quinn, Daria, Jane and the members of Mystic Spiral go on a road trip. What happens when all hell breaks loose?
1. Chapter 1

_My name is Quinn Morgendorffer, if you find this it means one of three things; we've been forced to flee and abandon all non-essential items, we too have been captured or we're all dead. I'm a seventeen year old senior at Lawndale high and I have been chosen to record our journey, though I use the term 'chosen' loosely; it was either me or one of band members of Mystik Spiral and I'm not entirely sure they even know how to write…_  
_It all began five weeks ago, maybe six and just over an hour ago it was decided that one of us should begin a journal to record our experiences if, God forbid, anything bad happened to us. Though I can't be sure we're all still okay; our group was split up about a week ago after we decided to return to Lawndale and find out what happened to our families, so far there has been no word from the search party and the rest of us are starting to get anxious._  
_It's now the twentieth of August 2002, though I can't be sure; it's hard to keep track since dates and time have no real significance in what we affectionately call our 'new' lives. What started out as a road trip over summer with my sister Daria, her best friend Jane and the band members of Mystik Spiral turned into a hellish nightmare, a constant battle for our lives; learning to live off the land and forage food and supplies from anywhere we could find it._  
_The country is still in shock, the survivors we've come across so far seem to mirror our own disbelief; we weren't ready for this, the government wasn't ready for this. America is the strongest westernized nation no one anticipated the invasion, although with most of our nation's armed forces in the Middle East, it makes sense that now would be the best time to attack. Whoever planned the attack was smart, from what we've learned the enemy army was organized and efficient attacking the nations capitals simultaneously, most in the dead of the night, ironically on July the forth; Independence Day._

* * *

"Mo-om I'm seventeen now, I'm old enough to stay home by myself." Quinn pouted. She drew her arms defiantly across her chest and stared at Helen.  
"No Quinn, we've gone over this. You are going with Daria while we're away." Helen sighed as she rummaged through the drawers in the kitchen, opening and slamming them each one a little harder than the last as her frustration mounted. "Jake! Have you seen my phone charger?" Helen stood, placed a hand on her hip and waited, a muffled 'No' filtered through from the floor above. Helen sighed once again and began searching the cupboard.  
"But why? Why with Daria, why not Sandi or Stacy?" Quinn whined.  
"Because… Just because, it has already been arranged. Now go and pack your things." Helen replied.  
"But…"  
"Quinn," Helen warned, "Look, it's only for two weeks, we'll meet up with you in Atlanta after the conference."  
Quinn huffed and turned on her heel and stomped up to her room.

* * *

_The night it began we had just watched the band finish yet another dismal gig. Travelling south to Texas, to play grunge music to country and western aficionados didn't seem like the best thought out plan. Max, the band's drummer insisted that any exposure was good for the bands reputation, and they'd be thanking him when they were famous. Somehow I didn't see that happening._

* * *

The night of July forth had been a dark moonless night. The blackness was almost unnatural in its density; the lack of light magnified every noise giving it a sinister warped feel. The slow ebbing flames of the camp fire rolled around the white ant eaten logs the boys had collected after stopping. The flickering flames danced around the small dusty clearing, lighting the faces of the group, that were sleeping soundly on the ground. Quinn awoke to a dull mechanical thumping; a far off burst of noise that had been carried on a gust of warm wind. She sat and rubbed her eyes with the back of her right hand then turned to survey her surroundings.  
They had stopped just off the highway, about thirty miles outside of Houston's city limits near a state forrest. The rest of the group were still asleep, the noise that had pulled her from her slumber was now nothing more than a whisper. Quinn was unsure if she had actually heard it or it was just a dream.  
With a small grunt she tossed her sleeping bag off her and stood, wincing as her bare foot hit the sharp edge of a small stone. She needed to relieve her bladder and groaned as she realized there were no amenities in the near vicinity; she would have to find an even spot a short distance from the van.  
As she walked back the mechanical noise returned louder this time with more force, feeling refreshed and awake she knew that she hadn't imagined it and grew curious as to what was making the noise. Moments later the sky was on fire, a bright burst of light flashed across the land, followed by a loud boom. Quinn stood motionless, frozen to the spot, her brain trying to process what she had just seen. She didn't notice Daria grabbing her arm and pulling her into the van, nor the yelling or screaming of the others as they began a frantic run for the two cars.


	2. Chapter 2

_I only remember slithers of what happened next. Shouted voices, mostly male, ordering us into the vans, a spray of gravel kicked up from the back of the van as the engine was forced into gear and sped toward the highway, the screech of tires as the rubber hit bitumen, the dying red glow in the distance behind us as the smoke plumed from the explosion. Most of all, I remember the eerie silence inside the van as we fled, attempting to put as much distance between us and the explosion as possible, we stopped only when the van choked and crawled to a stop_.

* * *

"Dammit!" Trent hissed through clenched teeth as he pounded his fists on the steering wheel.

"What's wrong, why are we stopping?" Quinn asked fretfully as her eyes darted from Trent to the rear window.

"We're out of gas." Jane replied.

"Well, hurry up and use the spare fuel from the gas can." Daria urged as she opened the side door and stepped out of the Tank.

"Uh...You mean the big can that was in the back?" Quinn said.

"What do you mean was?" Jane asked suspiciously.

"I took it out when we stopped, I used some to get the fire going and..." Trent said quietly, he dropped his gaze from the dash to his lap and shook his head.

"So there's no fuel." Jane said irritably, it wasn't a question.  
"What are we going to do? We can't just stop here; we're miles from anywhere." Quinn asked her voice heightened with fear. She looked at Daria helplessly.

"I think I saw a sign down the road, it said there was a gas station not far from here, I guess one of us could go..." Trent said quietly then got out of the van and summoned the occupants of the other car, Jesse, Max and Nick over to the Tank.

"Trent, wait." Jane called and waited for the rest of the band to arrive before continuing. "No-one is going anywhere until we figure out what the hell is going on."

"What is going on? I was asleep one minute then BANG the next thing I know I'm being pushed into the car and being told to drive." Max said, his veil of machismo was gone, it was now replaced with unbridled fear that shone in his eyes.

"There was a flash, like an explosion or something and then there was like this big boom." Quinn piped up. The rest of the group looked at her questioningly and she continued. "I thought it was a dream, I didn't think I actually heard it until, well after I woke up I had to go to the bathroom and because we are like in the middle of nowhere, I had to try and find..." Quinn babbled.

"Quinn, enough with the play by play, what did you hear?" Daria asked.

"Huh? Oh, well like I said I thought I imagined it, then just before the explosion I heard it again, but this time it was louder, stronger. It sounded like engines, but not like a car they were different. I also heard a thumping kind of noise, like a helicopter or something." She trailed off; the color had drained from her face. She looked at Daria. "Daria, I'm scared, what's going on?"

"I... I don't know. I would have said army training exercises, but the blast came from the city center…"

"So what does that mean? Is this like what happened last year?" Nick asked.

Daria shook her head, "I don't know. It might have been an explosion from one of the factories, the aircrafts may have been coincidental."

"Really?" Quinn asked, a glimmer of hope was evident in her voice.

Daria smiled tightly and shrugged, "Maybe, but I think we need to get the Tank back on the road. If there is a gas station around, we should try that for now and figure out what to do after."

Trent nodded, "Right, well I'm going to get the fuel, you guys stay here."

"Wait, we shouldn't go off alone, at least not until we know what's going on," Jane said and turned to Jesse, "You go with Trent, okay?"

Jesse nodded mutely and turned to follow Trent. Moments later Trent's Satellite roared to life and continued down the road, the tail lights dimmed as it got further away until they had disappeared and the area was silent once again.

Jane turned and muttered quietly to Daria, "You don't think this is a coincidence do you?"

Daria shook her head, "No, I just don't need Quinn freaking out just yet."

"What do you think this is then?" Jane asked hesitantly.

"I hope I'm wrong, but I think this may be the beginnings of a war."

"Oh you and your optimism, you know how depressed I get when you give me false hope."

Neither of the girls found the joke amusing.

* * *

_We sat in a bleak silence. The surreality of the situation seemed to warp time, Trent and Jesse could have been gone ten minutes or ten hours, when your scarred shitless any amount of time feels like an eternity. It was Jane that broke the silence when she let out an agitated sigh and jumped into the driver's seat of the Tank. She leaned forward and turned on the radio. The chilling static of white noise answered. After a long period of time fiddling with the knobs she gave up, slumped defeated in the front seat and stared out into the night waiting for her brother to return._

_It was dawn when we finally saw the boys return, the sunrise began to show part of the larger picture, the sky was hazy; marred with dust that had been soaked red by the growing sunlight and the spot fires that had erupted after the blast. As the car crawled to the top of the hill Daria, Jane and I went to meet them, the other two boys had been asleep for some time._

* * *

The car had barely stopped when Trent and Jesse burst out of it. "We need to get the cars hidden, NOW!" Trent called as he ran to the Tank and hastily began to empty the can of fuel into the gas tank.

The three girls stopped dead in their tracks, stunned at Trent's uncharacteristic behavior.

"Trent, what happened?" Jane asked.

"Later," he replied as he threw the now empty can into the back of the Tank and got into the driver's side. He started the van and reversed it into the dense undergrowth.

After the vehicles had been hidden the group congregated in the Tank, all eyes were on Trent as he began to retell his and Jesse's trip.

"The gas station is only a few miles up the road, but it's a major highway. If you want to get to or from Houston, that's the quickest and easiest way so it should have been busy, I mean I know it was the dead of the night but there should have been trucks right? No one was on the road, at least not on the way to the gas station. When we got there the clerk was acting really peaky; he had felt the blast and had been trying to pick up a news broadcast,"

"We tried that too, the radio is dead nothing but static, Daria thought it could have been interference from the dust, or the transmitter towers could have been damaged." Jane interrupted.

"It's not just the radio," Trent said, "The guy couldn't pick up any stations on the TV either; not even national news."

"You said you didn't see anyone on the way to get the fuel, what did you see on the way back?" Daria asked.

Trent gave a grave look, "Jets, at least six maybe seven and helicopters, four or five? I'm not sure, we were still inside the gas station. They were cruising really low, heaps lower than radar range." He inhaled steeply, "They weren't ours."

The van was silent as they digested the information.

"What does that mean?" Quinn asked apprehensively.

"It means," Daria paused and looked at the group, "It means this is bigger than Houston. This may very well be national."

"Huh?" Quinn asked.

"What you saw was an attack, and Houston wasn't the only place hit."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

_At first I thought Daria had exaggerated, that the explosion had affected only Houston and the rest of the country were going about their daily business as if nothing had happened. We saw no signs of any more attacks, no more unidentified aircraft- no activity in the skies whatsoever. We thought the worst was over, we thought we were safe… We were wrong._

_We had spent two days driving across the state, weaving our way through the back roads on our way to Louisiana. After Trent and Jesse had gone to get the gas, we had decided that, since no one else knew where their families were, we would try to find mine and Daria's parents in Atlanta. As we drove further away from the city and passed through the small towns that were littered across the countryside we were given false hope. The town's folk seemed blissfully unaware of the attack on Houston, they carried out their daily routines as if nothing had happened and we started to feel a little silly for the way we had panicked._

_On the third day of driving we had decided to stop at a motel for the night, we were just a few miles off the boarder and we were all in desperate need of a shower and a good night's sleep. None of us were that surprised when the motel clerk told us we were the first customers they had had in almost a week; the place was putrid, given the choice of one of the rooms or another restless night in the Tank, I would have chosen the Tank. _

* * *

Judging by the décor, the motel had been built in the early seventies. Quinn grimaced as she pulled back the covers of her bed and remarked that it had probably been that long since the linen had been changed. She screwed up her nose as she pulled the duvet back over the threadbare sheets and lay on top fully clothed. Daria watched and lay on the other single bed, not bothering to check the sheets.

"I still don't know why you insisted we share a room, I thought we made a pact we'd never do it again after the camping trip." Daria deadpanned as she stared up at the ceiling, the moldy off-white panels shone pink from the reflected neon light that was affixed to the wall outside. Its low steady hum penetrated the paper thin walls.

"I know, I guess I'm still a little shaken after the other night, plus I'm scared the last two dollar whore that used this room will come back." Quinn replied with a nervous titter as she rolled to face her sister.

"We could have afforded a room each you know, the manager gave the rooms to us for half price since the cable is still out." Daria said her last few words were marred by a deep yawn.

Quinn lay still for a moment before saying, "Don't you think it's a little weird?"

"What?" Daria replied.

"The way everyone is carrying on as if nothing happened. Do you think that maybe they don't know?"

"I guess, I mean there's no radio or TV reception, and the last few towns were far enough away not to have heard or felt the explosion."

"Do you think that maybe we over reacted? That we were wrong?" Quinn asked, a glimmer of hope shone in her voice.

"I don't know Quinn; I guess we'll find out when we get closer to the next city." Daria replied sleepily.

"I hope so, I really don't want to have to go another two days without a shower, you know how I-"

"Quinn," Daria interrupted, "Give it a rest, I need to sleep. Between you and that incessant drone of that damned light, it's making it really hard."

Quinn laid still and listened, there was most definitely a drone, but it wasn't the same one that was coming from the light. "Daria?"

"That's not coming from the light, is it?" Daria asked apprehensively.

The two girls got out of their beds and tentatively approached the window, just in time to see a large battered old troop-carrier crawl past the motel. In the dim light they were able to make out two forms perched either at end, both carrying rifles.

"Daria? You can see that too right?"

Daria nodded mutely then returned to her bed and began to collect their belongings, stuffing them into her old rucksack, "Hurry, we have to wake the others and get out of here."

Not thirty seconds had passed before a deep echoing boom of a shotgun sounded out into the night, causing them both to jump.

"That came from the office, our cars are in the parking lot; they know we're here." Daria said as she ran over to the window and peered through the blind. Two armed men had begun a slow walk to the cabins. "We have to hide, they're coming."

They stared at each other momentarily before their eyes darted around the room, seeking a viable place to hide. There was none. There were no closets, no space under the beds. They were trapped.

"The bathroom," Quinn said in a hushed whisper. "The window faces to the back of the motel, we can get out that way."

They entered the dark room. The window was a small wooden framed square that had to be pulled up in order to open. Daria stared at it, she had no doubt in her mind that Quinn would get through without any troubles; the girl ate nothing but rabbit food, herself on the other hand…

"Daria, come on." Quinn hissed as she climbed on top of the toilet and squeezed through.

Daria scoffed at the ease in which she had managed it. "You're joking right? How the hell am I supposed to do that?"

Quinn huffed, "Now's not the time for you to get snarky. Just throw me your bag and get your freaking ass out this window now!" she hissed, her voice had risen at least an octave.

Daria obliged, and with a little effort she got through the window. Once out the pair surveyed their surroundings, the motel backed onto a steep incline with a dense forest lining the top of the ridge.

"Come on, up there," Daria said as she tugged at Quinn. As she climbed she hoped the others had woken up in time.


	4. Chapter 4

_Never before in my life had I ever felt such trepidation, I thought it was bad enough waiting for the big reveal on Extreme Makeover when the fugly contestant was about to show off their beautiful new face to all their friends and family. This feeling of unease was in a league of its own. Daria and I had sort refuge in the leafy undergrowth at the top of the hill and had begun the waiting game. At least an hour had passed with no signs of our friends; the only thing that had kept us on the right side of sane was that there hadn't been any more gunfire, but that didn't necessarily mean everyone was okay._

* * *

The two Morgendorffer sisters sat huddled together hand in hand. They were both charged with adrenaline; every noise sent a shockwave between them and caused Quinn to tighten her grip. Daria hissed as she felt Quinn's sharp nails dig tighter into her palm.

"Shhh!" Quinn whispered.

"I wouldn't have made any noise if you'd loosen your grip and retract your claws." Daria snapped.

"I'm sorry it's just…"

"Yeah I know," Daria said softly as she returned her eyes to the motel below. From their vantage point they were able to see the four cabins, the reception office and most of the parking lot. They were unable to see either of their cars or the troop carrier. "Look, maybe we should get some rest. One of us should go on sentry duty."

"Daria, now is not the time for math problems." Quinn replied.

Daria turned her head and gazed at Quinn. In the dim light she could see the serious look on her face. Daria shook her head slowly. "Quinn, sentry not century."

Quinn's expression remained unchanged, "Really Daria, I know you're a brain and all, but I'm not counting to one hundred or one thousand. It may calm your nerves but not mine; I'm more of a spa and facial kind of girl."

Daria sighed and swallowed the biting remark that threatened to escape, "Sentry in another word for a lookout, a guard to keep watch and warn of any danger."

"Oh, then why didn't you just say that to begin with?"

"I'm beginning to wonder," Daria shook her head. "So I guess I'll go on lookout duty first while you sleep, I'll wake you up in a couple of hours and we can switch."

"No. I'll go first, there's no way I will be able to sleep." Quinn replied.

"Me either." A few moments passed and the girls looked down the hill, "I just wish we had some way of knowing if they're okay."

"We could always go down and take a look." Quinn said her voice distant as she continued to gaze upon the motel.

"You're not serious are you?"

"Why not," Quinn shrugged. "It sure beats sitting here doing nothing."

"What are we going to do if we run into any trouble? Those guys have guns and we can't be sure how many of them there are."

"We have to at least look, check out the other rooms. Maybe they are hiding, the other rooms could have had closets or something, maybe they are in the cars; you know how Max is about his van. Maybe-"

"Maybe they're hidden in the bushes like us." Daria interjected.

"Maybe, but maybe they've been captured…" Quinn said darkly. "I know you're all for female heroism; I've read your stories."

"This isn't a story Quinn, this is real. We're risking our necks if we go down there, I-" A scrape of gravel silenced Daria. The girls looked down in time to see two silhouettes scrambling up the hill.

"Oh God." Quinn breathed.

Daria squinted, "That's Trent and Jesse, come on." Daria pulled on Quinn's sleeve and they made their way to the two boys.

"Trent," Daria hissed as they got within earshot.

"Daria? God, am I glad to see you, are you okay?" he panted as he pulled her into a bear hug.

"Yeah, we're okay," she said as she pulled back and looked behind him, "Where's Jane?"

Even in the dim light Daria could see the color wash from his face, "She's… She's not with you?"

Daria shook her head, "No it's just Quinn and I, we thought,"

A high female scream stopped Daria and all four heads whipped around to face the motel. Trent immediately started down the hill in the direction of the scream.

"Trent, wait." Quinn said as Daria grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him back.

"That's Janey down there. I can't just let them have her." Trent replied irately.

"We have to think about this, there's no point charging down there in a fit of rage; they have guns. You're no use to anyone if you're dead." Daria said.

"Well I can't just sit here."

"Of course not, but we have to be smart about this. We don't even know where they have her, we should split up, two of us check the cabins and the main office, the other two should check the parking lot and the truck." Daria continued.

"Okay." He agreed.

* * *

Quinn shivered, despite the warm air. She and Trent were couched in the darkness at the edge of the motel. After a large argument, Trent had rationalized that since Quinn was a faster runner than Daria, she should go with him, since they were more likely to be seen. They had arranged to meet up with Daria and Jesse in half an hour a hundred feet down the road at the top of the ridge. From their new position they were able to see all of the parking lot. It was poorly lit; the yellow fluorescent lamps that lined the path to each cabin were old and failing. Their cars sat one hundred and fifty feet to their right near the front of the cabins, the large truck stood to their left.

Trent turned to Quinn and motioned toward the truck, before setting off. He crouched low and stayed in the shadows as he stealthily made his way over. With a furtive glance toward the reception office, Quinn was at his heels in no time.

The truck was thankfully unmanned, and a quick glance under the torn canvas roof on the far side of the back section, revealed their prize. Jane sat hunched in the rear corner sobbing slightly.

"Janey?" Trent whispered.

Jane leapt up and carefully got as close to him as she could. "Trent, you have to get out of here, they'll be back any minute." Jane pleaded. Her eyes were wide with fear, her cheeks stain red with tears.

"Then hurry up and climb out." He hissed.

"I can't, I'm tied to the seat, they used cable ties and I can't wriggle free." She said.

Trent turned and looked at Quinn. He retrieved a pocket knife from his jeans and handed it to her. "I'm going to give you a boost into the truck; you're going to have to climb in and cut Janey free."

Quinn stared at the knife with horror, "I, I can't." she said pleadingly.

"You have to, it's too high for me to jump in; there's no footholds and I can't risk going through the back incase they're watching the van." He said.

Quinn nodded hesitantly and with a boost she climbed into the back and found Jane. Jane's hands and feet had been tied together with black plastic cable ties and then tethered to the seat with a nylon cord. The restraints were tight, Quinn whimpered empathetically as she saw the red marks Jane had inflicted upon herself as she tried to get free. She slid the blade of the knife between Jane's skin and the hard plastic and began to saw through the makeshift hand cuffs.

It took no more than five minutes for Quinn to cut Jane free. Trent helped both Jane and Quinn down from the truck the three of them ran to the safety of the tree line, not before Trent took the rifle sitting on the front seat of the cab.


	5. Chapter 5

_It was the most frightening thing I had ever done, my hands shook so fiercely I was surprised I was able to cut through the restraints. Even as we fled into the darkness my mind still ran through scenarios of us being caught. I had removed myself so far from reality I almost ran straight over the crouched figure in the grass in front of me._

_Daria, Jesse, Max and Nick were waiting for us when I unceremoniously stumbled upon them; I'm not sure who got the bigger fright me or Max. Whilst checking the cabins, Daria and Jesse had stumbled upon the rest of our group; they had been hiding not far from the cars. After the emotional reunion, we sat and listened to Jane while she retold her story._

_She had been taking a shower when the gun went off. She hadn't heard it, completely unaware she had finished bathing and readied herself for bed. No sooner had her head hit the pillow, the front door had burst open and two large men entered._

* * *

"I had no idea what was going on. They charged in, their weapons drawn and pointed a flashlight straight into my eyes; it completely blinded me." Jane inhaled sharply and unconsciously rubbed at her lacerated wrists. "They were shouting. They kept asking me where the rest of my friends were. I told them I was alone; that I was just a runaway and I broke into the room so I'd have a proper bed to sleep in for the night." Jane grimaced then dropped her head and gazed into her lap before stifling a sob. "They called me a liar and when I told them it was the truth, they hit me across the back of the head and knocked me out." She paused and drew a ragged breath. "I can't be sure how long I was out, but when I came to they had tied my hands and feet together and were dragging to the truck. At first I had forgotten what happened. All I knew was that I was being dragged through the dirt; the dust filled my mouth and the rocks scraped my back. I was helpless and I did the only thing I could. I screamed and they hit me again, then threw me into the back of that truck and tied me to the seat." Jane looked up and gazed at the rest of the group, they were listening avidly, hanging on her every word. "I was sure they were going to kill me… or worse… I thought that they were going to…to…" Jane broke out in a fresh bout of tears.

Daria moved closer and placed an arm around her friend. Jane inhaled sharply at her touch and drew back quickly on instinct before looking apologetically at Daria.

"I'm sorry, I just…" Jane trailed off.

"It's okay." Daria replied soothingly and gave Jane a worried look, before tentatively saying, "Did they… do anything?"

Jane shook her head quickly and wiped her nose on the back of her sleeve, "No. But if Trent and Quinn hadn't rescued me when they did, there's no doubt in my mind that they would have."

The group sat in a stunned silence, unsure of what to do or say. It was Jane that broke it.

"There's something else," She said quietly and looked up. "They were American."

"Are you sure?" Daria asked, her brow furrowed in confusement.

Jane nodded, "They had thick southern accents, they were most likely locals."

"What… What does that mean?" Quinn asked quietly.

"I'm not sure; they could just be a group of looters taking advantage of the situation." Daria replied, she was doubtful and it showed.

"What exactly is the situation? We drove half way across the state and besides the night of the blast we haven't seen or heard anything. I'm starting to lose my fucking mind here. I'm starting to think that what we saw was a mass hallucination since no one else seems to have seen or acknowledged it. Then tonight after three fucking days, a truck full of redneck soldiers come through, shoot the shit out of the motel clerk and then run us out of the cabins." Nick piped up; his voice was hard and riddled with frustration.

"They're not soldiers." Trent said. It was first time he had spoken since handing the knife to Quinn. During Jane's story he had remained quiet, void of any discernible emotion as he examined the gun he had stolen.

The group looked at him questioningly. "What?" Max asked.

"They're not soldiers," He repeated. "At least not in the traditional sense of the word," Trent nodded to the rifle. "This is just a run of the mill twelve gauge double barreled shotgun. Every man and his dog has one of these, it's not an army issued rifle."

"So what does that mean?" Quinn asked timidly.

Trent shrugged. "Either these guys are just having some fun in the chaos, or we're looking at the enemy issue from the wrong point of view."

The group grew silent as they thought. Jesse gazed at Trent then turned to the rest of the group, "So what do we do now?"

"Not much we can at the moment. The best thing is to try and get some rest. Look at things in the morning, maybe the men will move on and we can go and get the cars." Daria said.

The rest of the group gave non committal nods and shrugs as they began to find a place to lie down.

"Who is going to go on sentential duty?" Quinn asked, she was answered by confused looks from the rest of the group, "You know look out duties?" she turned to Daria in time to see smirk grace her sisters lips.

"I'll do it." Trent said. None of the others objected.

* * *

_I don't know how the others were able to sleep; maybe they were just pretending, trying to bring some normalcy back into our now chaotic lives. Whatever it was I couldn't do it. Having to lie in the thick grass with no padding to sleep on, allowing the bugs to bite me I just couldn't do it. After half an hour of tossing and turning I had had enough._

* * *

Quinn approached Trent slowly, she was careful not to make any sudden movements.

"Hey Quinn," He said, not bothering to turn his attention away from the road. He had picked a perfect spot for lookout, from his view point Quinn was able to see down to the motel, and at least a mile down the road in the opposite direction.

"How'd you know it was me?" Quinn asked as she sat beside him and glanced uneasily at the rifle he still cradled in his arms.

Trent shrugged, "You're the only one that wears perfume; I could smell it a mile off."

"It's better than smelling like crap," Quinn shot back.

"Not when it means the difference between life or death." Trent replied sagely, his attention still on the road.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Quinn asked, drawing her knees to her chest.

Trent shrugged again, "This isn't a beauty contest. Standing out could mean your death." He replied simply. "If I can smell you approaching, an enemy soldier could as well, and as far as I can tell, they seem pretty trigger happy." He replied as he turned to face her.

"Good hygiene isn't a joke."

"Who's joking? I'm deadly serious. Jane had told me how into fashion you are, nothing against you wanting to smell good, but you have to understand that from now on, we're in hiding. We have to do as much as possible to stay undetected. Do you understand?"

Quinn huffed before answering, "Sure I guess."

The two sat in silence for a short time before Trent turned to the somewhat sullen teen, "I never thanked you before; you saved Janey's life."

Quinn shrugged and smiled, "All in a day's work. How are you going? You're taking this awfully well."

"There's not much I can do at the moment. I've got to be honest I'm suppressing a murderous rage, but…"

A low drone of engine noise made its way to Trent's ears. Both Quinn and Trent looked down in time to watch two more troop carrier vehicle slide down the road. Both pulled into the motel parking lot. Trent and Quinn looked at each other with similar expressions of unease. The same thought filled their heads- This wasn't a couple of trigger happy rednecks passing through having a bit of fun with the locals; this was real, these trucks held enforcements.

Trent's brow furrowed, something had to be done, and it had to be done soon.


	6. Chapter 6

"What are we going to do now?" Quinn asked as she looked around the group, they were all bleary eyed but the announcement of more trucks had shocked them out of their slumber. "We can't go anywhere without the cars; we're hundreds of miles from home and we won't survive on foot." She sighed as she leaned back against the trunk of a tree.

"We're just going to have to wait it out; we can't just go down there and take them. That would be suicide." Jane said.

"Not necessarily," Daria said as she stood and turned toward the motel. The rest of the group looked at her with bemusement.

"We could go down, take a look at what we're up against." Daria turned back to face her friends, "These guys seem brutal, but they're unorganized. If we could get close enough to see what they are doing, we could at least see if there is any possibility of us getting the cars back."

"It's worth a try; we can't just sit around doing nothing." Nick said.

The others hesitantly agreed and they slowly made their way across the ridge to the hotel.

Daria had been right, the men were unorganized, however since the extra two trucks had arrived they had appointed a guard. A man was now stationed along side the trucks. The man was skinny, too skinny to be a soldier. As Quinn remarked on the man's physique Trent scoffed. "You don't have to be brawny when you have a gun."

As far as they could tell, the trucks had been mostly empty, except the driver and two men with guns; they guessed there were maybe ten soldiers in total. As they sat in the long reeds on top of the hill, a plan was formulated.

* * *

_I still can't believe we went through with it. It was crazy, something that happened only in action movies. We had gone over the details at least half a dozen times until we were sure we knew exactly what to do. We were going to split into two groups; one group was going to create a diversion and get the attention of the guard without drawing the attention of the rebel group, while the other group got the cars. It seemed straight forward, but it was risky as hell, there were so many things that could have gone wrong, especially when Trent decided to play Macgyver and change the plan._

_Trent, Jesse, Daria and I were in charge of creating the diversion. We got lucky when the man who was supposed to be standing guard unwittingly stumbled upon our merry little group and we were ready for him. As were hid in the shadows, the man approached and as he unzipped his fly on his trousers, Trent circled round and pressed the muzzle of the gun between the man's shoulder blades._

* * *

"Don't move," He spoke in a low, calm tone.

Quinn, Daria and Jesse stared in shock, mouths agape at Trent's bold decision. The man whimpered, but remained still except for his quivering hands, his fingers still holding his zipper.

"Please don't shoot me," he pleaded in a high pitched whimper.

"Don't talk," Trent turned to Jesse and motioned to the ground on his left, "Get his gun. Daria empty his pockets."

"Please, don't kill me. I have a family." The man sobbed. Daria began to pull items out of the man's pockets; a pen knife, a wallet, a stick of gum and an old battered photo of a young woman and a small child. She showed the photo to Trent.

"Then why aren't you with them?" Trent asked.

"They have them. They came in the middle of the night, ripped us from our beds and locked us up in an old abandoned warehouse with hundreds of other families like us." The man let out a throaty groan. "They picked a few of us out and told us we had to help them."

"Who's they, what do you have to help them with?" Trent asked.

"I… I'm not sure. These guys are a bunch of blood thirsty, trigger happy guns for hire. I have to help them collect others like me, like you; people that survived the blasts. They're doing it so there's no one left to oppose them. We're making our way across the state. I swear I'm not like the other guys in there, they're blackmailing me. They said if I didn't help them they'd kill my wife and child," the man stifled a sob, "I had no choice, you have to believe me." He said tears were now rolling down his cheeks.

Trent glanced uneasily at the other three who stood beside them, their expressions mirrored his.

"What's going on? Why are they doing this?" Daria asked.

The man turned to address her and Trent forced the gun deeper into his back, "Eyes to the front." He commanded.

"I… I don't know," he stuttered, "As far as I can tell the government has been over thrown. While in containment we got word that the capital cities were attacked, all of them. Washington was nuked, completely wiped off the face of the earth along with most of our political leaders."

"Then who's in charge?" Quinn asked timidly.

The man scoffed, "That's the worst part of it; I have no idea. There are rumors but nothing solid, the most popular one is that a bunch of right-winged extremists have taken command." He paused and drew a deep breath, "What are you going to do to me?"

"If your quiet and do what we say, nothing." Trent said unsteadily, his bravado waning.

"When's the next changeover of guards?" Daria asked.

"There's at least another hour left on my shift, but they check every half an hour to make sure I'm still out there."

"Give me your hat and jacket." Trent said.

"What?" The man asked.

"Give me your hat and your jacket," Trent repeated, "Now."

As the man undressed, Daria turned to Trent. "What are you doing?" she hissed.

"I have a plan." He said. "Jesse, you take over here. I'll be back in a minute." He said as he handed the gun to Jesse and took the man's clothes.

Under the guise of the captured guard, Trent hesitantly slid out from the comforting darkness of the woods into the dull yellow light of the parking lot and made his way to the truck that had held Jane. He returned a few minutes later with a long piece of rope.

"Tie him to a tree, make sure it's a few hundred feet away, and Jesse gag him so he won't cry out once you walk away." He said as he handed the rope to Jesse.

Daria, Quinn and Trent watched as Jesse frog marched the man further into the woods. Daria turned to Trent.

"What the hell are you playing at?" she asked exasperatedly.

"I don't trust him, and we can't shoot him; the other guys would hear the gun and would be out here in no time. We'd be dead. Besides, we have to make sure the guard won't see the others when they get the cars, it's bad enough he's seen our faces." He replied. "Listen I have an idea, we have another fifteen minutes or so before we're supposed to drive out of here. What if we put our friends out of action? So there was no chance of them chasing us."

"I thought that's what the plan was; that you and Jesse were going to try to tamper with the engines."Quinn said.

"I was thinking something a little grander than that." He said with a chilling smirk. "You two go meet up with the others at the cars. Wait for my signal and start the engines, me and Jess will do the rest; just be ready to go when we get there."

* * *

_The look on Trent's face, and the tone of his voice scared me. I'd never seen him act this way before and by the look on Daria's face she hadn't either. There was no way we were able to talk him out of whatever he was planning, so we unwillingly made our way back to Jane and the boys and told them there was a change in plans. _

_With the guard out of the way, we were at least able to get into the cars and hope to God they would start when we needed them to. The minutes crawled by while we waited, we saw glimpses of the boys as they crept around the trucks, but in the murky darkness it was impossible to see what they were doing. The tension in the air mounted and the boys began to grow restless; I'm not sure if it was out of anticipation or because they weren't part of the special ops mission Trent and Jesse had given themselves._

_Trent and Jesse had found more ropes in the back of one of the trucks and had soaked them in fuel and fed them into the gas tanks, using them as wicks. They had left enough rope to give themselves enough time to get to the cars and escape. I can remember the golden spark and rush of flames that erupted from the side of two of the trucks. Trent and Jesse ran toward the two cars; their limbs flailing. Only the Tank started. A moment of dread surged through me as I watched Jane and Daria make a frantic dash for the Tank. They dived into the side door, just as Trent and Jesse reached us. With a screech of tires the van sped out of the parking lot and down the road._

_Those poor men didn't stand a chance; the car engines had alerted them, but by the time they had made it out of the motel, the wicks had burned up and the flames had reached the gas tanks. The explosion was enormous; a large fireball erupted into the dark sky. It was beautiful in a horrifyingly sick way. Even as we sped down the road, the hot fumy air seeped into the van and stayed with us until dawn._


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

_It was the middle of the day when we finally stopped. I don't know what the exact time was, it could have been ten it could have been two; all I knew was that it was hot as hell. We pulled off the highway onto a small dirt track and stopped once we were hidden from the main road. We were all on edge, though I can't speak for the others I was still trying to understand what happened. It was like a terrible nightmare. Not like one of those normal nightmares where you go to school and find out another girl is wearing the same outfit as you, or when there's a sale at Cashman's that you missed out on; this was worse, it was real and there was no waking up from it. I could still smell the fumes from the explosion. As the Tank pulled up we all got out. There was an uncomfortable silence that none of us dared to break. We all shared the exact same thought: We were now murderers._

It was Trent that broke the silence after Daria began to unload their bags from the van. His brow furrowed as he watched her, "What are you doing?" He asked.

"We need to sort out our stuff, see what we have left since we had to leave your car behind. There's not enough room for everyone to fit comfortably in the Tank, so we have to get rid of all non-essential items." She said as she continued to remove the bags and drop them on the ground. Jane silently walked over and began to help.

As Daria put a box of the bands leads on the ground Max jumped up, "Hey! Not the gig equipment." He said sternly.

"Max, we have to. There won't be enough room otherwise." Jane said as she and Daria heaved one of the amps onto the ground.

"No," Nick cried. "That amp cost me six hundred bucks! It took me over six months to save up for it." He said as he looked pleadingly at Trent, "Trent man, talk some sense into your sister."

Trent stared at him mutely and shrugged.

"Nick, Max there's just not enough room for all of this stuff and I don't think you guys are going to be doing anymore gigs, at least not for a while." Jane said as she set a snare drum on the ground.

"Oh no, no way Janey, the electrical stuff like the leads and cords fine, they can go, but there is no way I am leaving my drums here." Max said as he picked up the snare and held it defiantly in his arms.

"Max, she's right man. They take up too much space." Trent said quietly as he walked over and placed a hand on Max's shoulder.

Max turned, glared at Trent and pulled away from his grip. "Are you serious? Did that blast scramble your brains? Music, these drums, the band are my life. I am not leaving them here in the middle of nowhere. I don't give a shit what is happening, the drums stay!" he yelled angrily.

"Max, calm down man. Look, we all have to leave stuff behind my axe is back in my car, so is Jesse's," Trent said.

"So? We'll go back and get them." Max replied.

Trent cocked an eyebrow as he studied his band mate; it was Jesse that responded. "Are you insane? We can't go back there; what if there are survivors, what if there are reinforcements?"

"Maybe there was no one else around, maybe we managed to kill everyone." He spoke quietly as he realized he had spoken the words everyone was thinking. With a huff Max threw the drum to the ground with an angry force and he stormed into the forest. Moments later the group could hear Max taking his frustration out on the trees as loud snaps and crashes reached them.

The group looked at each other stunned and Nick spoke up, "I'll go." He said as he jogged off in the same direction Max had gone.

Quinn had remained quiet as she watched the ordeal; once Nick had disappeared into the forest she stood and walked over to the Tank. She retrieved her own bag from the back and began to sort through it. Daria and Jane had done the same and the three girls stood in a circle examining their bags.

"So what do you classify as non-essential?" Quinn asked as she bent down and unzipped her hot-pink case.

As Quinn lifted the lid Daria scoffed, "That for starters," she said and pointed to a fluffy pink bathrobe. "Why did you bring a bathrobe on a road trip?" she asked.

Quinn flipped her hair as she turned and scowled at Daria. "Just because we are," Quinn held her hands up and air quoted, " 'roughing it' on a road trip, doesn't mean I can't have the basic luxuries." Quinn said.

"Quinn, it has to go." Daria said as she started to go through her own bag.

Quinn huffed and threw it into the dirt, "Fine. I guess that means I'll have to leave my hair dryer and straightener as well?" Daria nodded without looking up and Quinn sighed in frustration. "Well what are you keeping that can be left behind?" she asked as she looked at Daria's growing pile of 'keep' stuff. Quinn picked up a thick book, "Why are you keeping a book about dinosaurs? What use is it?" she asked.

Daria frowned, "Dinosaurs?" she said as she looked at the book Quinn was holding. Daria bit her lip and stifled a laugh as she saw the title 'Thesaurus'. "Quinn, that isn't a book about dinosaurs."

"Duh, of course it is. Everyone knows that anything ending in 'aurus' is the name of a dinosaur."

Jane looked at the book and began to laugh. "Quinn that's a Thesaurus, it's like a dictionary."

Quinn flushed slightly and dropped the book back on the ground, "Well… Why do you have it anyway? It's the school holidays." She said as she went back to her own things.

Daria shook her head and smirked, "I was finishing a paper while we were on the road, and I'm keeping it because I kind of want to finish it. Besides if this really is a war we could use paper to get fires started if needs be."

"Whatever," Quinn replied absently as she held up her make-up case. "I guess this goes too?"

Daria took it, "Actually," she said as she started to examine its contents. She pulled out a few facial cleaners and treatments. "These can stay." She said as she handed the small case back.

As the girls packed their belongings Trent and Jesse sorted out the rest of the van. A majority of the music equipment had to go; both of the men looked at the instruments mournfully. Jesse bent down and picked up the acoustic guitar. "You think we can keep this one?" he asked hopefully.

Trent shrugged, "Depends on what Max says. He's pretty cut up about leaving his kit here--"

"You can keep it." Max said quietly as he emerged from the tree line, Nick was a few paces behind him.

"Are you sure man? It's fine if we leave it here, you know 'cause…" Jesse said as he nodded to the drum kit scattered on the ground.

Max shrugged, "It's not like I can play it, just… just let me keep the skin on the snare… Its lucky…" his last few words were mumbled and he looked down at his feet.

"Sure, that'd be okay," Trent said. "We have everything else sorted. The only thing left is the trunk, we couldn't lift it."

"Yeah, I don't know what's in it; I've never been able to open it. It works as a seat anyway." Max replied.

The group packed their belongings back in the Tank and drove away.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

_As we drove closer to Atlanta we began to collect bits and pieces of information that slowly showed how big this whole thing was. Old newspaper clippings from the days leading up to the attacks gave us some of the answers we were looking for. They told us who was responsible for everything; Senator James Weatherby Jr. a devout Christian with some whacked out ideas of how America should be run. Daria told us that he had been elected into federal government a few years ago; he was originally from Texas and once he was elected, his extreme right wing political beliefs immediately caused conflict within the government as well as his own party. During his time as governor he instigated countless amounts of protests and rallies. Once in power he used the aftermath of the September eleventh attacks and the declining financial state of America to strike fear into his peers as well as allied parties until he had enough support to strike out and over throw the government._

_How he did it, we're still not sure. Daria said that she had heard rumours that after building his army in the Senate, he had ordered that all of the state governors that were with him demand that their respective National Guards take no further orders from the federal government. Whether or not those rumours were true, we can't be sure the only real information we were able to collect was from the soldier we captured who told us that all of the capital cities were nuked but even that information was sketchy at best. At that point we hadn't come into contact with anyone else. That was until a week later when we reached the outskirts of Atlanta and decided to make camp in an abandoned house for the night._

"I'll go on look out duty." Nick said after they checked the house to make sure it was empty.

They had chosen the last house in a quiet dead end street. It was a small three bedroom cottage that was shielded by the overgrown garden that took up most of yard. Although there were no streetlights since the power had been cut to the suburbs that were closer to the major cities, the dense trees and vines provided extra protection from the street. Nick picked up one of the shotguns from the back of the Tank and took a few rounds of ammo in his pocket. He waited for the group to enter the house before he began to search for a decent lookout point. He chose a small gap in the bushy hedge at the far right side of the block; from here he had a clear view of the house and the entire street. As he crawled into his chosen nook, he heard the sound of water gushing from the main into the house and guessed the girls had found the bathroom.

Quinn groaned as she held her hand under the stream of water that beat down from the shower head.

"It's cold," she moaned as she turned to Daria and Jane who were standing in the adjacent bedroom.

Jane shrugged, "I don't care what the temperature is. I'm having a shower. Who knows when we'll get the chance for another one."

Quinn huffed and closed the bathroom door gently to make sure the action wouldn't blow out the candle she was holding.

Jane turned to Daria and smirked, "Princess Grace isn't dealing too well with her new environment."

"She's actually taking this a lot better than I thought she would. I guess some good has come out of the collapse of the Fashion Club last summer," Daria responded. "I just hope she doesn't take too long in the shower, I need a decent night's sleep in a normal bed." She added as she flopped backwards onto the bed.

Jane looked around the room and hummed, "Who do you think lives here?" she asked absently as she began to investigate the items that sat on top of the large chest of drawers on the opposite side of the room.

"I don't want to know. All I care about is that they aren't here." Daria said quietly.

The usual variety of knickknacks were strewn across the drawers; a jewellery box, old photos, a large ornate lamp. They could have been in any house in America. Jane opened the jewellery box and picked up a golden earring, as she did so a chill ran up her spine and she quickly dropped it and shut the lid. Jane was thankful when she heard the water stop, as the door opened she quickly ran in and shut the door.

"What's wrong with her?" Quinn asked as she removed the towel from her head and ran her fingers through her hair in an attempt to untangle some of the knots.

Daria sat up and shrugged, "She's just on edge I guess, can't blame her." Daria responded.

***

Nick guessed he had been sitting in the bushes for an hour or so, his joints had begun to cramp and he could feel a numbing tingle beginning to invade his leg. He yawned and stretched out, wincing as the light tingle morphed into sharp stabbing needles.

He repositioned himself and took the shotgun from beside him. He cradled it in his arms as he inspected it; he had never held a gun before, it was heavier than he thought it would be. The cool dark metal gleaned and he frowned. As he looked up a yelp caught in his throat as two headlights lit up the opposite end of the street.

He sat dumbstruck, his mind said run but his limbs were jelly. After a few seconds the adrenaline kicked in and he quickly moved into the house. He raced from room to room, waking the rest of the gang, he was thankful that they had confined themselves to only two of the rooms.

"Nick man, what's going on?" Trent asked sleepily as he rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand.

Nick turned to Trent wide eyed, his face filled with terror, "Lights, run, now!" he hissed.

"What?" Jane asked warily, more alert that her brother, "There's someone coming?"

Nick nodded and ran toward the door, but stopped dead in his tracks as he saw a black SUV park in front of the house.

"Jesus Christ!" Max hissed as he ran toward the back door.

"Shit Max," Jesse breathed as he followed the bald drummer, "There's no escape from the backyard!"

Quinn turned to Daria, "What do we do?" she squeaked.

Daria shook her head, "I don't know. Hide?"

"Where?" Jane hissed.

"There's a hidden door, under the staircase," Trent said. "There's enough room for the three of you. Go now!" He whispered.

"What about you four?" Jane asked.

"We'll find somewhere; this isn't the first time we've had to hide from the cops." He said with a cheeky grin, even in the dim light the girls could tell the smile was forced.

The three girls ran to the staircase and Trent shut them in before following the rest of the boys out side.

Minutes passed and the girls heard nothing. They thought they may have evaded the intruders until heavy footsteps sounded out from the front door. Daria felt Quinn stiffen beside her as the footsteps grew closer.

They heard the latch of the door slowly unclick and the door opened with a small creak. A flashlight lit up the three girls, huddled in under the stairs, the sound of the gun's safety latch unlocking filled them with dread.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"You..." The man said quietly as he lowered his weapon.

Daria glanced at Jane and Quinn then turned to the man, "Who... Who are you?" she whispered.

"Walker?" another man's voice called from the front door. "You find anything?"

The man turned and quickly shut the staircase door, "No, it's clear." He said and the girl's heard his footsteps walk away.

"What the hell is-" Quinn started in a hushed whisper.

"Shhh!" Daria hissed and elbowed her sister.

The girls sat in silence and listened, the man identified as 'Walker' was speaking to the man that had called out. Quinn leaned forward and peered through the tiny crack in the door. She could see the two men standing on the front porch facing each other; she could just make out their conversation.

"There's no one here, just bags by the look of it. I think—" Walker's voice was cut off by the sounds of shouted male voices and a volley of gun fire.

"They're down the road. They must have jumped the fences!" The other man's voice shouted and he began to run toward the car.

"I'll stay here... In case they double back." Walker called.

"Be back at base in an hour." The other man responded before the SUV's engine roared to life.

Jane turned to Daria, "Trent!" She said fearfully.

"They'll be okay." Daria whispered back.

"What if," Jane started but was cut off by the door creaking open once again. She felt Quinn grab her arm, her fingernails dug into the flesh of Jane's shoulder.

"It's okay, I won't hurt you." Walker said quietly as he put his gun on the hardwood floor and raised his hands in surrender as he crouched down.

"How do we know that?" Jane said, "Do you expect us to trust you?"

"I hope so." He said quietly.

"How do you know us? You said 'you' when you found us." Quinn asked.

"I," he started.

"Wait, it's you; from the motel. You're the soldier we captured. What are you doing here, why didn't you capture us and return the favor?" Daria shook her head in disbelief.

"I am returning the favor, but I'm not going to capture you. If you hadn't have caught me and tied me up to that tree, I would have been blown to bits in that explosion. I owe you my life; you saved me. Now I'm returning the favor. That night you blew up the motel my unit was way out of its assigned region; a few of the guys were going crazy in the chaos and were getting too friendly with the women we came across and they had no qualms about getting rid of anyone that opposed them." He smiled. "My name is Sam Walker. I live about a mile away from here,"

"Wait a minute, the name on the driver's license in the wallet you were carrying was Daniel something." Daria said.

Sam nodded, "It's fake, well not fake; it's just not mine," he sighed, took off his cap and ran a hand through his dirty blond hair. "I'm kind of like a double agent. I was given orders to infiltrate one of the enemy armies to collect intell on their plans and if they were planning any future bombings. Before the attacks I was an undercover cop," he explained, "As far as those soldiers that were just here know, I'm one of them."

"All of those men are soldiers?" Quinn asked.

"Not all of them. I use the term loosely, some are National Guard, some are jaded police and army men and some of them are just guys that want in on the madness."

"Your base, is that where they keep the people you have captured from around here?" Daria asked hesitantly.

Sam pursed his lips and nodded, "Some of them, mostly the civilians we were able to catch from the city. Why?"

"Our," Quinn started.

"Quinn!" Daria reprimanded and shook her head.

Sam smiled, "It's okay. I told you you can trust me." He said sincerely.

"Our parents were supposed to be in Atlanta at the time of the bombs…" Quinn said.

Sam nodded, "And you want me to see if they're being detained?" Quinn nodded. "Any other family members?" he asked and looked at Jane and Daria.

"No, we're not from around here," Jane responded. "But those guys the rest of your unit are chasing…"

"Your friends I take it? They're brave; taking the heat off the house like that."

"Just… Just make sure none of them are hurt, if you get them." Jane said, her voice cracked with emotion at the end of her sentence.

"I can try, but I can't let them suspect me of anything," he responded and turned to Quinn. "What are you folk's names?"

"Mor… Morgendorffer, Jake and Helen." She said.

"I'll see what I can do." He stood, "It will take me a couple of days before I can get back here. Say a week? I'll meet you here about three in the afternoon." He said as he shut the door. "Stay in there for at least an hour in case anyone else comes back."

They heard Sam's heavy boots clomp across the living room to the front door then the sound of the door shutting behind him.

"Do you trust him?" Jane asked.

"I have to," Daria said. "He saved our lives; he could have shot all three of us dead or taken us with him."

_We stayed in the cupboard under the staircase until daybreak. There were no more raids on the house, which was great, but we hadn't heard anything from the boys. It was almost four o'clock in the afternoon before we heard from them. Trent was the first to enter the house, he looked horrible. His face sported a bloodied bruise in his hairline and as he slowly opened the door his lanky form limped into the house. Jesse was at his heels and he didn't look much better._

_They told us that after Trent had locked us in, under the stairs, they had hidden in the back yard. When they realized the men were inside the house, Trent had jumped the fence into the neighbor's house and ran down the street to draw the attention away from us. The rest of the band had followed him and the soldiers hadn't wasted anytime in following them. Once they got to the intersection at the end of the street, they decided to split up and Max and Nick had gone in one direction while Trent and Jesse had gone the other way._

_A couple of the men had caught up with Trent and Jesse and they had gotten into a fist fight, but they had thankfully gotten away. They had spent the remainder of their time searching for the remaining members of the Spiral, but had had no luck. Nick and Max were missing._

_After listening to the boy's story, we told ours. I still remember the look of disbelief on Trent's face as Daria spoke. When she was done we all sat silent, none of us completely trusted Sam, if that was his real name, but we had no choice. We had to stay at the house until we knew what happened to Nick and Max, if they were captured or were just waiting until it was night before returning to the house. The one thing we did agree on was that when Sam returned, we'd be prepared, in case of an ambush. All that was left at that point was to wait, and hope to God we'd get good news._


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Quinn, Daria, Jane, Trent and Jesse stood in the living room of the old abandoned house arguing. It had been a week since the raid and there were still no sign of Nick or Max. They were on edge, with little less than ten hours until Sam was due to return, Trent and Jesse had decided that a warm welcome was not something they should extend to the rogue soldier.

"Why do we need to ambush him? If he wanted to hurt or capture us he could have done it last night." Quinn reasoned.

Trent shook his head and looked at her earnestly, "Are you really that naïve?" He sighed in frustration and began to pace. "He knew that there were at least two men travelling with you, and he knew that we had at least one gun. He also knew that we blew up the motel and killed the rest of his patrol. I don't know about you, but if that were me I'd be out for blood. Besides, we're more valuable than you three, we-"

"Excuse me?" Jane huffed, "So what, our lives aren't worth as much as yours? Since when did you become such a chauvinist?"

Trent groaned and ran a hand through his mussed-up hair as he looked at Jane. "I didn't…Look, how many women have you seen patrolling the streets and capturing survivors?"

"I don't," Jane started and sighed in defeat as she looked at Trent. She cast her gaze to the floor and mumbled something under her breath.

"What was that?" Trent asked audaciously, despite the tense mood a slight smile parted his lips as he looked at his sister.

"None." She almost yelled. She took a deep breath and continued in a more subdued tone. "I haven't seen any women in any patrols." She answered.

"Exactly, from what we've been told they use the women and children as bait and bargaining chips to get the men that are fit enough to fight to co-operate." Trent paused and looked at the three girls, "Which is why we need to be careful. For all we know this guy is using you three as bait and fooling you into thinking he is a good guy to lure us out of hiding."

"Why would they go to all of that trouble? It sounds like a waste of time; this isn't one of those cop drama movies or whatever." Quinn said.

"Really? 'Cause last I checked we were running around in a would be war zone. Didn't it cross your minds that this Sam guy is playing the good cop role, promising to bring back news on your folks so that we would welcome him back, only to realize that it was an ambush?"

Quinn stood silent and looked helplessly at Daria, "Well?"

Daria stood silent and seemed to reflect on what Trent had said, "It couldn't hurt to prepare for another raid, we can't be too careful. Sam, if that is really his name knew we were responsible for the attack on the patrol at the motel even if we did save his life…" Daria paused and looked at the rest of the group, they were all frightened and shell shocked from the drama of the last week. She didn't know what to do, she had never had to make life or death decisions before. She drew a deep breath and continued. "We could find hiding places around the house perimeter and up the street. It should still be daylight when he returns, so we will have an advantage in spotting the soldiers," she paused and looked at Trent, before adding, "if there are any. We only have two guns though, which won't be much help if Trent is right about Sam." Daria hated to admit that she too had had the same bone chilling thoughts about Sam and his motives. It scared her that Sam now knew her parent's identity and she was having huge regrets on being so trusting of the man without knowing anything solid about him. She shook her head to try and clear her mind of the dark thoughts and looked at Trent. "So how do we do this?"

It had been decided that when day broke we would pick a spot around the house to hide and wait for Sam's return. Jesse took one of the rifles and chose a spot at the intersection at the start of the street, if Sam returned with a truck load of people we figured that he would have time to fire a couple of shots before the soldiers knew what was going on. Trent had taken the other rifle and insisted on hiding in the house, Daria, Jane and I hid within eye range of each other in and around the gardens of other houses along the street.

As the sun got higher in the sky the group began to get anxious. Quinn groaned as she stretched out and peered toward the house. She was sitting in the front garden behind a dense green hedge on the opposite side of the street. A hundred feet down the road she could just see Jane, who was also hidden from the street and Daria was across the road a few houses from their temporary base. Quinn hated being alone at the best of times and hiding in the bushes in the middle of the day in a stranger's garden waiting for a soldier was frightening. Just as she began to think that Sam wouldn't show, Quinn heard the scuffing footsteps of boots hitting the bitumen of the road. She felt the hair on the back of her neck prickle as she shuffled forward and caught a glimpse of their soldier.

It was the first time she had been able to get a good look of him. Sam had a lean, athletic physic and stood at least six feet tall. As he walked slowly toward their house his eyes methodically swept his surroundings. He was dressed in an army-green camouflaged uniform and Quinn noticed that he was armed; his rifle was slung over one of his broad shoulders and his hand loosely gripped the strap that was secured to the gun. His hair was a short scruffy crop of dirty blond that contrasted against the healthy golden glow of his skin. As he looked in her direction, Quinn pulled back but had enough time to notice that he was young she guessed he was in his early twenties.

She had been so distracted by Sam, that Quinn didn't know Jane had approached her until she felt Jane's hand on her shoulder. Stifling a yelp she turned toward Jane wide-eyed.

"What the hell!" Quinn hissed. She could feel her heart beating a million miles an hour as the adrenaline coursed through her veins.

Jane held her hands up in surrender and tried not to smile, "Sorry, are you okay?" She asked.

Quinn nodded in response. "What are you doing?"

"As far as I can tell he's alone. We should wait until Trent gives the okay and we'll make our way back to the house."

Quinn nodded mutely and turned to watch the house.

Sam paused at the front step of the house and looked around, so far there had been no sign of the group he had come across the night before last, he hoped that they had stayed put and not moved onto the next town. Hopefully the promise of news on the Morgendorffer's was enough to make them stick around. With one last fleeting glance toward the road he took his rifle from his shoulder and made his way to the entrance.

The door was unlocked and as Sam turned the handle and gave it a push, it let out an exhaustive moan as it swung open. He stood in the doorway hesitantly, he was taking a risk coming alone; he had witnessed what this group were capable of. He took a deep breath and walked into the living room.

No sooner had he entered he felt the muzzle of a rifle pressed into his back, right between his shoulder blades. A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, "Oh Trent, we just have to stop meeting like this."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Trent's eyes grew wide and he felt his bravado falter for a second before he glared at the soldier. "How do you know my name?" he asked.

"You didn't think I'd be stupid enough to come back here without knowing who I was dealing with." Sam replied calmly as he held his hands up in surrender.

Trent's brow furrowed, "Where did you get your information?" He questioned as he drove the gun deeper into Sam's back and unclipped the safety.

"Whoa, easy there Rambo," Sam chuckled as he lurched forward from the pressure. "We both know you're not going to shoot me."

"What makes you so sure?" Trent said through gritted teeth. He had been wondering if he had it in him to shoot the man if the situation called for it. He was beginning to think that he didn't.

"Because I know pretty much everything about you," Sam replied as he slowly began to turn to face Trent. Trent looked at the man questioningly and Sam continued. "After I left here the other night I radioed my base the first chance I got and pulled everyone's files. I had the name Morgendorffer and there is only one Morgendorffer family with two teenage girls, it only took a little digging to discover who you and the rest of your group are. Your name is Trent Lane and you're twenty-three years old. You are the front-man of a grunge-rock band "Mystic Spiral". You've been arrested three times, twice while you were still a minor, the first time for DUI and the second was for drunken misconduct in a public place. The third was a year or so ago for failing to pay a fine out of state. You're a good guy, despite what happened at the motel you're not a killer and despite the act, you haven't got a clue what you're doing." He chuckled.

Trent scowled and drew the gun to eye level and aimed at Sam's head, "How would you know?"

Sam shrugged. "Well for starters, you would have disarmed me as soon as I walked in," He said as he held up his rifle and waved it. "And secondly, you wouldn't be standing with your back to an open door. So why don't you stop with the theatrics, put down your gun and call your friends in, we have a few things we need to discuss."

_Jane and I sat huddled in the garden opposite the house while we waited for Trent's signal that everything was okay. As the minutes wore on we began to get restless; there had been no sounds from the house and we weren't sure if that was a good or bad thing. The only thing that kept us sane was that we hadn't heard any gunshots... Yet._  
_After what seemed like an eternity we heard Trent's low whistle, the signal that it was okay to return. Carefully we made our way back across the street and approached the house. Daria had emerged from the bushes as we reached the front steps to the porch and joined us as we entered through the front door. Trent and Jesse had decided that even if Sam had returned alone, Jesse should remain at his post in case he had been followed._

_When we entered Trent told us to sit down and that Sam had things he needed to discuss with us._

Sam sat leisurely on the old sofa lounge on the far wall of the living room and he looked around at the group. Jane was perched on the far end of the lounge, knees tucked under her chin and her long thin arms draped loosely across her ankles. Daria sat cross-legged on the floor on the opposite side of the room, her expression was hard and seemingly unconcerned, however her eyes gave her away; she was uncertain and scared. Quinn sat by her sister's side and had refused to look at anyone else but Daria.

Trent had been pacing the width of the room, head down and his eyes to the ground. His fingers gripped the rifle that he still cradled in his arms. Occasionally he would throw a furtive glance toward the stranger as he waited for the man to start explaining who he was and what the hell he wanted. After a few silent moments Trent stopped pacing and turned to look directly at Sam.

"Well?" Trent asked impatiently. "We're all here, now what do you want?" His tone was hard, he couldn't remember ever being so short with someone; he was renowned for his laid-back persona.

Sam looked at Trent and sat up straighter in his chair. "Where do I start?" he muttered mostly to himself as he leant forward and rested his arms on his knees. Sam inhaled deeply and looked at Daria and Quinn, "I guess I'll start with you, I found your parents."

Quinn perked and looked at the Sam, "Really? Are they okay? Are they here?"

Sam slowly shook his head and Daria felt her stomach drop. "They're not here and I don't know if they are okay, but I found a flight manifest from a plane that returned to Middleton on the day before the attacks. Their names were both on it."

Daria felt Quinn's arms envelope her as she was pulled into a bear hug, "Thank God." Quinn breathed.

Jane looked at Trent and then back to Sam, "The night you came here your unit chased four men away from the house..." Jane started.

Sam nodded, "A couple of the men caught up to Nick, he was shot and beaten up pretty badly... He's back at the compound in the infirmary. He's okay, but it's been decided that once he's stable he's going to be transferred back home. He's not much use to them here and his girlfriend and child were captured in the raid last week, they will be more than enough motivation to get Nick to play nice."

"And Max, what about him?" Jane asked.

Sam looked at Jane grimly and shook his head, "He tried to run after he and Nick were captured...He was gunned down, we took him back to try and fix him but..." he paused and looked at Jane then turned to Trent and shook his head, "I'm sorry."

Trent stood still and stared blankly at the soldier. He felt as if a tonne of bricks had just fallen on him. He slowly made his way to the empty arm chair in the corner of the room and sat down.

"So what do we do now? Go back to Lawndale now, right?" Quinn said breaking the silence that had filled the room.

Jane and Daria nodded in agreement and they looked to Trent who gave a small shrug. He hadn't taken his gaze away from his hands that were craddled in his lap, but Jane could see that his eyes had grown wet and tears were threatening to break past his lashes and run down his cheeks.

Sam watched the group, "I was hoping that would be your next move. There is one thing I need you all to do." All four of them looked at Sam and waited for an explanation. "You see there are certain things we're not allowed to do, rules of war and such. What I need is a rogue group to inflict as much damage as possible to the enemy."

Trent's brow furrowed, "What makes you think we can do that?" The three girls nodded in agreement.

Sam chuckled, "You've already done it. The attack on the motel, that was great; maximum damage, minimal materials and effort. But-"

"But what?" Trent asked. "You just said it was good, great I believe you said."

Sam nodded, "Sure, but it was small time. The soldiers you killed were scum; pawns of the people in charge. In situations like this, the guys at the top expect to lose a few soldiers. You have to aim bigger, take out targets and people that will make a difference."

"Why us, why don't you do it?" Jane asked.

"Because I need to be here and if you get captured they're less likely to suspect you as long as you all keep to the story 'that you're all trying to get home'. Now I have a few things back at my house that will come in handy, I'll teach you how to use the explosives and..."

"Wait a minute we haven't agreed to help you yet." Daria said as she stood and began pacing. "I don't know about the rest of you but I'm not exactly comfortable travelling across the country side blowing stuff up. I kind of value my life and don't want to put myself in danger for you."

"You won't be doing it for just me," Sam replied. "You would be doing it for your family, your friends and-"

"I swear to God if the next words out of your mouth are 'Your Country' I'll blow you up." Daria said.

Sam smiled and nodded, "Okay, drop the clichéd talk I get it." He looked around at the rest of the group, "I know this is a big ask and I'm not saying you should go on a kamikaze suicide mission across the country, but if you come across sites that are frequently used there's no harm in blowing it to kingdom come." The group stayed silent as they thought. Sam stood and looked at his watch. "Look, I have to get back to base for my shift. I can come back tomorrow night with the supplies and you can do what you want with them." He said as he walked to the door and exited the house.

Daria looked at Jane, "I don't know about this, we're not soldiers and I wasn't planning on a future as a guerilla terrorist."

Jane shrugged, "Yeah, being a guerilla terrorist requires good interpersonal skills. I always pictured you as more of a bioterrorist. You know, inventing then releasing a newer more powerful strain of Ebola into society and watching the masses struggle from afar." She smirked.

Daria raised an eyebrow and shot Jane a sarcastic look, "Thanks…So what do we do? We can't do this."

"Well…" Trent said. "Like he said, we've already done it once and we're already on our way back home…"

"Trent, you can't be serious?" Quinn said shocked.

"Look, we can at least take the supplies and if we see anything on the way home we'll discuss it then." He said finally.

"So all that's left it to wait until Sam returns with God knows what sort of 'supplies'" Jane said, air-quoting supplies.

The four looked at each other nervously and began to do things to occupy their time.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

_So we waited. It's all we could do at that point. I can't speak for the rest of the group but sitting in that little house hiding from the rest of the world for like over a week was driving me crazy. I tried not to think of the war but it's like when someone says 'cat' and then tells you not to think of a cat- it's like totally impossible._

_It's weird, the only thing that kept me sane was the routine, not that it was much of one; every morning around six, just as the sun was starting to come up I would take over sentry duty from Trent and stay there for a couple of hours until Daria would take over, then when everyone had had a turn we'd start again. I hadn't told the others but there were a couple of times that I had found Trent asleep on the job. The first time I just let him sleep, it was the day after the raid and he had been awake for almost two days. The second time I got mad. Like really mad. I remember using curse words that I thought I'd never use and some I'm pretty sure I just made up especially for him. He was so stunned that he nodded and left promising that it would never happen again. I wanted to believe him._

_It had been two days since Sam said he'd be back and we were starting to get nervous. Over the past couple of days traffic in the area had begun to get busy; jets and helicopters were flying overhead and the trucks on the ground were getting more regular. I guess the people in charge were starting to get their shit sorted and we were afraid it was only a matter of time before we were found. We decided to pack our things in the Tank and leave._

_It was just before dawn on the day we were going home and I was on my way to take over from Trent so he could get the last of the things together when I heard a rustling in the trees and moments later a twig snap._

Quinn's breath caught in her throat as she hit the ground, trying desperately to hide in the sparse undergrowth of the front garden of their hideout. She prayed that the noise had been made by something as harmless as the wind, or a feral cat or even a bear just as long as it wasn't a soldier who would have her staring down the wrong end of a gun. She cursed Trent there was no doubt in her mind that he had fallen asleep.

'Great,' she thought, 'I'm going to die because that bastard couldn't keep his damned eyes open for longer than five seconds.'

Moments passed and she heard more rustling. She turned her head toward the noise and saw a large dark shadow emerge from the tree line and creep across the yard a few feet in front of her. It was then that she thanked Trent's stubbornness in assuring that one gun remain with the sentry and the other be ferried back and forward with the approaching and retiring guard. Quinn clutched the shotgun with clammy hands. She had never actually used a rifle before but the boys had shown everyone how to fire and load them. With a ragged breath she held it up and made sure the butt of the rifle was firmly pressed into the hollow of her shoulder so if or when she fired it the recoil action wouldn't cause the gun to fly back and shatter the bones in her shoulder.

Quinn released the safety and lined the figure up. She meant to say 'Stop or I'll shoot' in a firm voice, however it came out as one long word and a few octaves higher than she wished to be. She was thankful however that the figure froze and two silhouetted hands were raised above the figures head.

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice had at least returned to its normal pitch.

"It's me," the figure hissed.

Quinn's brow furrowed, "Me who?"

"Sam." He replied.

Quinn breathed a sigh of relief and cautiously came out of hiding; her gun however remained aimed at her target. "Where have you been? You said you'd be back two days ago."

"I… got caught up," he replied uneasily.

"We're leaving you know," she said.

"I figured, listen I bought some supplies that will help you. Can you help me get them to your hideout?" he asked as he pointed to the ground.

Two large duffle bags were at his feet, Quinn groaned they looked heavy. "Can't you wait? I'm on my way to get Trent- he's supposed to be on look out." She said, her last words spoken in a bitter tone.

"I thought you were on sentry duty," Sam asked surprised. "You might want to think about giving Trent a different duty."

"Tell me about it, this will be the third time he's fallen asleep on the job."

Sam let out a low whistle and after a moment's pause he turned to Quinn, "So can you give me a hand? I have to be quick," he looked at Quinn, in the silver light of the dying moon Quinn could see the alarm on his face. "Please?"

Quinn huffed, "Fine, my nails are already chipped lets aim for broken as well." She said as she picked up one of the bags.

Sam began to laugh until the glare on Quinn's face made him realize she wanted joking. He shook his head and looked at her, "Honey, if you think that cracked and broken nails are your biggest problem at the moment, you're in for a huge surprise."

Once they had gotten the packs back to the house Quinn went to wake Trent up they decided to take the risk of having no sentry on duty while Sam showed them what he had brought. Once they had arrived back at the house, after an ear-bashing from Jane, Sam began to show them what he had brought them.

He picked up the bag that Quinn had been carrying and unzipped it. He explained that he had managed to smuggle another two guns, ammunition, a few grenades, a set of walkie-talkies and a satellite phone to contact him if they got into too much trouble. He also gave them all a new watch and a military issue 'Zippo' lighter. After Sam had replaced the items in the first bag he turned to the group with a grin.

"And what's in this bag," he said as he opened it, "should make your trip a little more exciting." He flashed another grin as he held up one off-white block of what appeared to be modeling clay.

Jane's brow furrowed, "That's not clay is it?" she asked.

Sam laughed. "No. This isn't clay; this is a plastic explosive. C4."

The reaction from the rest of the group was mixed, Trent and Jesse exchanged looks of awe while Jane, Daria and Quinn looked less than impressed.

"I don't know about carrying bombs around in our packs. It doesn't sound too safe, what if we fall or drop it?" Quinn said.

"Well you see the thing is that-" Sam began as he held up the white block and waved it.

Suddenly he lost his grip and the block of C4 began to drop to the ground. He tried to catch it once, twice, three times but it slipped each and every time.

Sam suddenly leapt back, "Jesus Christ! Look out!" he yelled.

The group split up and ran in different directions. Daria and Quinn ran out the front door and Jane, Trent and Jess out the back. After moments of nothing Daria frowned as she heard the last sound she expected to hear. Laughter.

Slowly the Morgendorffer girls returned to the house. They entered the living room the same time as the Lane siblings and Jesse returned. They all shot Sam looks of anger and mild embarrassment. None of the looks seemed to worry Sam. He didn't apologize he just wiped the tears from his eyes and picked the plastic explosive. Then, he proceeded to scare the group again by bashing the block with his fist. "Does that answer your question?" he asked with a smirk.

Quinn crossed her arms and took a seat, "You could have just told me you know. I would have believed you." she pouted.

Sam shrugged, "Nothing like seeing it with your own eyes. It gets hot quickly is all."

"So what does make it go off?" Daria asked.

Sam put the explosive down and pulled a roll of fuse wire out of the bag and a box of plain detonator caps and held them up.

_For the next hour Sam gave us an intensive course in guerilla fighting. It wasn't just abot the technical stuff about how to use plastic explosives and grenades and stuff. It was more general, like tactics and camouflage, and overall cunning. He went on and on about something called the Pimlott Principles. Apparently the only problem with the Pimlott Principles was that the guy who invented them had been killed by a hand grenade he was playing around with in his own home, in 1997._

_I wish Sam hadn't told us that._

_Anyway, he said that Pimlott Principles are that like, first you achieve surprise, then you build momentum or whatever to keep the enemy off-balance, and you always go for objectives that can be achieved._

_Listening to him talk made me nervous. We weren't guerrilla terrorists or whatever, we were a bunch of kids barely out of high school. I was still a senior for crying out loud! How the hell did he expect us to pull this off and live? Maybe he didn't think we'd live through it, maybe he expected us to die._

Sam looked at the group, "Of course you can choose not to do any of this, but I'm hoping you will. We need to attack the enemy and hit them where it hurts,"

"But how will we know who the enemy is?" Daria asked. "It's a civil war. It's Americans versus Americans."

"It's hard to distinguish enemies from allies when you come across roaming patrols, but the enemy is starting to establish itself across the eastern coast, which makes your job easy since any established group between here and Lawndale will be enemy. I have heard talk that Canada has provided refuge for fleeing American civilians and there are rumors that they have provided some military aid. So Canadians are friends, in most cases,"

"This is just getting bigger and bigger. It's not going to be like a little fight, this is going to go on for a while, isn't it?" Quinn said in a small voice.

Sam nodded and looked around the group, "Which is why you need to find a side to fight on because if you don't, you will end up captured or dead." He paused then stood. "I have to flee the area. I went through a lot of trouble to get those supplies and I'm kind of a big target at the moment. You should hide the bags really well until you set off later tonight. Hopefully I can get across the border without too much trouble and meet up with an allied unit. I plan on staying around the area though. Remember that sat phone is dialed in to reach mine but the range isn't huge so only use it when you're in trouble, if I'm around I'll get the call." Sam nodded and left the house and seemed to take all the noise in the world with him.

The silence in the living room was overwhelming. The group sat stunned as they tried to digest everything they had just been given and told.

"So, what do we do?" Jane asked.

"We should do it." Trent said. "It's what Max and Nick would have wanted. We'll leave tonight and head for Lawndale; it should take us maybe two days since we have to travel only at night. We can't risk being caught now. I don't think they'll believe we're an innocent group trying to get home when they see that we're armed to the teeth."

The rest of the group nodded mutely and they once again had to wait until they could make their move. They were going home.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

_The drive home was long and the conversation was kept to a minimum. Even if we wanted to, there wasn't much we could talk about. There was an unspoken agreement that we wouldn't say anything about our families or friends or what we would find once we arrived home. The only 'safe' topic was what we were going to do with the explosives. Trent and Jesse seemed to have most of the ideas seeing as they were the only two who actually wanted to use it. Daria, Jane and I kept mostly to ourselves and let the boys dream up ways to blast the 'enemy' to kingdom come. We didn't think we'd have a chance to use it... We were wrong._

_We had been driving only at night and had mostly kept to the back roads to avoid being seen, the risks of us getting caught now were far greater than they had been a week ago. As we got closer to home, the traffic on the roads got heavier. The longer this war lasted, the more organized the enemy got. During the day we saw more troop carriers taking soldiers across the state and if we were caught now, armed to the teeth with an assortment of weapons and a basic knowledge of how to actually use them, we would have been shot dead on the spot seeing as how we were now practically soldiers ourselves. It was dangerously close to dawn on our second night of driving when Trent pulled the Tank off the road and into the bushes. We were only a few hours from Lawndale but with the light of the sun came the dangers of daytime. So we hid the van, set up camp and tried to get some sleep._

_I wish I could have slept that morning. I wish I hadn't gone for a walk. I wish I hadn't found that gas station. But most of all, I wish I hadn't told the others about it._

"That's perfect," Trent said after a moment's silence.

Quinn looked at him, mouth agape, "That's not what... I mean... I didn't tell you about it so we could blow it up!" she cried. "It was so we could find another place to hide for the day, away from the enemy."

"Quinn, think about it, it's an ideal target," Jesse said with an enthusiastic grin plastered across his face. "The whole way home we've been trying to come up with ways to cause damage to the other side,"

"We?" Daria scoffed, "I don't remember saying that we should risk life and limb by blowing shit up!" she said defensively as she drew her arms across her chest and set a level gaze upon the two guys.

"But Sam gave us the C4 for a reason. Why would he have done that if we weren't going to use it?" Trent asked.

"Because he is fucking retarded," Daria shot back, "What idiot in their right mind would give a pile of plastic explosives and weapons to a couple of slacker musicians and their teenage entourage?"

"Someone that needs help fighting the enemy," Jesse replied sagely.

"We have to do this Daria, we… I need to do this. After what they did to…" Trent's voice trailed off as he looked mournfully at the ground. They all knew who Trent was referring to.

Jane turned to Daria and Quinn, "It can't hurt to check it out, you know see if blowing it up is even an option?" she said weakly, a tight smile ghosted her lips.

Daria's brow furrowed as she thought. After a few moments she turned to Quinn, "Which way was it?"

_Me and my big fat stupid mouth… I wish I could go back and tell myself not to mention the roadhouse to the rest of the group. Unfortunately I can't and that is why we found ourselves crouched in the bushes staring out at a huge truck stop that was planted on the main highway. We spent most of the day there, watching a stream of trucks going in and out and trying to find ways to attack. Daria had realized that as it got later and the sun began to lose its heat, the troop carriers began to stop longer. The soldiers seemed to be less alert, less jumpy and they spent more time inside the diner._

_As night fell we decided to stay, I should have known right then that there was no backing out. I knew the boys had something planned and I now had no choice but to agree with it. I had the feeling that both Daria and Jane were starting to agree with the boys, I could tell by the way their eyes lit up when Trent and Jesse would come up with different ways to attack. I couldn't take it, listening to them signing our lives away. I chose to take first look out duty and left them to their plotting._

Daria turned and watched Quinn leave with a slightly worried expression adorning her face.

"She'll calm down and eventually see that this needs to be done," Trent said in a soothing tone.

"Does it really?" Daria said absently, her eyes still set on Quinn's retreating form. "This is really risky. There are so many things that could go wrong,"

"Daria you're smart enough to realize that everything we do from now on will be risky whether we blow stuff up or not. At least this way we're making a difference," Jane said as she placed a hand on her friend's shoulder.

Daria sighed and turned back to the group, "So how are we going to do this?"

Trent turned to the group, a malevolent smile on his face, "Well, I was thinking that we do something like the hotel attack, but bigger,"

Jane's brow furrowed, "We're not going to do much damage by cramming a few blocks of C4 into the tucks gas tanks,"

"Not the trucks gas tanks," Daria said as she looked at Trent, "The station's underground tanks,"

Trent nodded, "If we put a couple of blocks down there and light the fuse, we'd wipe the whole place out as well as anyone that was inside."

"We need to do something about the power though," Daria said and was met with looks of confusion. She sighed, "The whole place is lit up like a Christmas tree at night, there's no way we can do this if we don't turn the power off,"

"Oh… right…" Trent responded.

Daria looked around the group; it was obvious she would have to be the brains behind the operation, "Look, I think we should split up into three groups. One of us will have to tamper with the transformer and knock out the power. We'll have to work quickly, as soon as the power is off we drop the bombs into the fuel tanks. By the looks of it there are two major underground tanks, one looked like it was being filled up today and I'm guessing the other would be as well. Two of us take the one around the back of the station; it will be easier to get to because its hidden and not many trucks or soldiers have gone near it. The other one will be harder; it's around the front and within viewing distance of the diner, hopefully the blackout will take care of that problem." Daria shook her head, she couldn't believe what she was planning it was something that would have happened in her Melody stories, not her real life. She looked at the group, "Any questions?"

The group shook their heads mutely and Daria continued, "Right," she said with a little hesitation, "Who does what job?"

Jesse was the first to speak, "I know a thing or two about transformers, my Dad is an electrician."

Daria nodded, she had wanted to do that herself, not that she knew much about electronics or power supplies; it was the easiest and safest job. "Okay, that just leaves—"

"I'll do the front tank," Trent stated.

"Me too," Jane piped up.

Trent shook his head, "No I don't want you to—"

"Trent, there's no one else, besides I'm a faster runner than Daria and Quinn," She reasoned, Trent gave Jane stern look then sighed; there was no arguing with her logic.

"Well then it's planned. We should do it tomorrow night after it gets dark. We can make the fuses and iron out all the details during the day." Daria said. She felt like she was signing her life away. But she knew Jane was right, no matter what they did now, they were all putting their lives at risk.

_You never forget the first time you take another human life._

_Sure I knew that if our plan worked we'd be taking the lives of a whole lot of soldiers, if not our own, but this was different. This was me, one loaded rifle and an enemy soldier. I watched in horror as he emerged from the shadows, ninja-like in his movements as he slowly crept toward his target; Daria. She was crouched down, lowering the explosive into the underground reserve fuel tanks. Daria had chosen to place and light the bomb; her job however had proved to be harder than we first thought. The cap on the fuel tank had been hard to get off and we wasted much needed timeprying it open. The plan was to lower the bomb into the ground and replace the cap, leaving enough of the fuse dangling out for us to get as far away as possible before it exploded. My job was to make sure no one stopped her. I had hoped that no one would stop her and that I wouldn't have to protect her from anything._

_It's not like the movies where everything moves in slow motion and you swear enough time passes for the other person to do a hula dance before the bullet hits them. No, it happens almost immediately. There's no time to think, no time to change your mind the moment my finger squeezed that damned trigger I had sealed the soldier's fate._

Quinn lowered the gun shakily and stared at the fallen soldier who was choking on bloodied breaths. A scream sounded out into the night, although Quinn was unsure if it was hers, the soldier's or Daria's. Quinn wanted to take a moment to let the reality of the situation sink in, but it was a moment they didn't have. Enough time had already passed since Jesse cut the power for some of the soldiers to wander outside, the gunshot would have alerted them to their whereabouts and the area would be crawling with them in seconds.

Without a second thought Quinn screamed to Daria, "Light the damned fuse and run!" Daria stared wide eyed at Quinn, "Dammit Daria, NOW!" she ordered and was thankful that Daria pulled herself from her reverie and lit the fuse.

The two Morgendorffer girls had gotten a few hundred feet or so before the blackened sky was ablaze with white hot light and they heard an ear rupturing, thunderous boom as an enormous shockwave rippled through the earth's crust. Quinn winced in pain as she felt the gravel scrap the exposed skin of her body as she was thrown to the ground.

With a labored grunt Quinn pulled herself up and began running again, but was knocked down once more by another explosion. She struggled up on all fours and chanced a look at the chaos behind them. The dying remnants of a brilliant orange fireball lapped at the night sky sending out a halo of light around it. The roadhouse below was indistinguishable in the sea of fire that engulfed it. Quinn grimaced as the strong fumy aroma of the blast hit her. The overall affect was intoxicating; no matter how hard she tried she couldn't tear her eyes away from the beautiful bedlam they had created.

Quinn felt a rough tug on her shoulder and turned to see Daria who motioned for her to run. She saw her sister's mouth move, but the only sound Quinn could hear was a high pitched ring. It didn't matter though she knew where they were headed, along with their plans of destruction they had arranged a meet-up point, close to where they had originally set up camp the day prior.

"What if I screwed up? What if by shooting that soldier I got Trent, Jane and Jesse killed?" Quinn sobbed, "If only I hadn't—"

"If you hadn't of shot that man, I'd be dead. Besides, we had an agreement that if we heard gunfire before the agreed time, we'd light the fuse there and then and get the hell out of there," Daria looked up and watched Quinn pace the small clearing in front of the Tank, "Besides, there were two explosions." Daria said.

"Yeah but what if it was just like a truck explosion from our bomb or like one of those after-thingies?"

"Aftershock?" Daria had thought the same thing, the second blast hadn't been as big as the first but she figured it was because the other tanks weren't as full as the one Daria and Quinn had been assigned. "I'm sure they're okay, it's only been half an hour. Knowing Jane she's probably trying to capture the hellish scene in her art book," Daria chuckled nervously.

Quinn stopped pacing and raised an eyebrow at Daria, "Yeah she does love her destruction…" she said quietly.

"Look, we should—" Daria was cut off by a twig snapping followed by a crunch of gravel.

The two girls spun around and aimed their rifles at the source of the noise. Moments later Jane emerged from the trees, wide eyed and breathless.

"Jane!" Daria and Quinn both cried in relief.

"Where are the boys?" Daria asked as she lowered her weapon.

"Jesse… He was hurt...badly," she puffed as she made her way to the Tank and retrieved a bottle of water. She drank a few hungry mouthfuls and wiped the back of her hand across her ash smeared face before continuing. "They're about a mile or two down the road," she explained, "We have to pick them up, Jesse can't walk and Trent injured as well, he can't carry Jess anymore." She said as she got in the driver's side and started the engine, Daria quickly jumped into the passenger seat.

Quinn stood still and looked at them with fear in her eyes, "It's going to be light soon, we can't drive in the daytime."

"It doesn't matter, after what we just did, we can't stay here," Daria said. "Now get in the damned car."

Quinn did as she was told and they silently drove to rescue the boys.


End file.
